Conduct Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment – I’m A Mom
Conduct disorder is a disorder that usually appears very early, around 5 or 6 years of age. It is characterized by a deficiency in emotional and behavioral control that leads the child to neither respect the rights of others nor adjust to social norms. Early detection is important so that treatment can be implemented as quickly as possible.
We all live in society and, therefore, we must respect the rights of others through rules that we must follow. Most of us respect these rules, as this is something we’ve already internalized. However, those who have this condition cannot respect them.
What is conduct disorder?
Conduct disorder is common in young children, although it can occur at other times in child development. It is characterized by behavior that violates the rights of others, lack of respect for social norms and seeking confrontations with authority figures.
These behaviors must occur persistently and repeated over at least twelve months for their diagnosis. Affected people often show aggressive behavior against other people or animals (sometimes, they can even torture small animals), steal, among other behaviors.
These children show a significant commitment in various areas, such as school or social life. They feel little empathy, ignore the feelings of others and act, most of the time, without thinking about the consequences and in an impulsive way.
Symptoms of conduct disorder
To make the diagnosis, the presence of 15 symptoms during the last year and at least 1 during the last 6 months is necessary. Thus, the symptoms are organized as follows:
- Destruction of property : may cause fire or destroy property.
- Fraud or robbery : non-confrontational robbery, lies, scams, attacks on other people’s homes or cars.
- Aggression to animals and people : threatens, intimidates, initiates physical fights, is cruel to people or animals, brags, etc.
- Serious violation of rules : runs away from home, misses school without authorization, doesn’t come home at night, etc.
There are 3 types of conduct disorder, according to the age of onset of symptoms:
- Beginning in childhood. Symptoms appear before age 10 and may persist throughout adult life. It may be associated with antisocial personality disorder. It usually has a poor prognosis.
- Beginning in adolescence. It starts after age 10, and has less severity and damage. It is associated with higher levels of rebellion and rejection of social norms.
- With unspecified beginning. It is used when it is difficult to establish the age of onset of symptoms.
Causes of conduct disorder
There are several causes that can influence the appearance of the conduct disorder and, sometimes, they can interact with each other.
- Cognitive.
- Genetics : existence of a family history of this condition.
- Personal : history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or oppositional-defiant disorder.
- Socioeconomic : living in marginalized environments with low socioeconomic status.
- Relatives : disrupted families, substance abuse, maltreatment, aggression, child neglect, and inappropriate educational styles.
- Psychophysiological : little autonomic nervous system reaction.
- Temperamental : difficult character, emotional insensitivity, low avoidance of harm.
- Relationship with neurotransmitters : malfunction of norepinephrine and serotonin.
- Peer relationships with misconduct.
Treatment of conduct disorder
Currently, there is still no fully established treatment. It is common for programs to be used in which parents and children play a crucial role together with professionals from different areas.
Psychotherapy
- Training programs in social and communication skills, problem solving.
- Reinforcement of prosocial behaviors, modeling, behavioral contracts and emotional expression.
- Use of cognitive-behavioral programs : teach positive ways to relate and provide alternative behaviors to those that are characteristic of the disorder.
- Psychoeducation for parents : teaching parents ways to act in the face of conduct disorder.
In very complicated cases, medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be recommended.
Recommendations for parents
- Educate in an assertive and democratic way. Avoid overprotection, indifference and excessive demands.
- When setting the rules, explain the consequences of non-compliance and always be consistent.
- Develop repertoire of social and communication skills.
- Provide emotional and social support to promote optimal development.
- Be insistent on emotion regulation and education.
- Teach problem solving strategies as an alternative to aggression.
- Seek professional help to support this process.
About conduct disorder…
In short, conduct disorder is a disorder that must be detected as soon as the first symptoms appear so that treatment can be started and, thus, a better prognosis can exist.
With the slightest doubt that your child may suffer from this disorder, it is important to seek professional help so that a complete assessment can be made and to start treatment as soon as possible. Try not to despair, be patient and remain calm. Little by little, everything will get better.
